By place Europe •
May 1 –
William of Villehardouin, prince of
Achaea, dies. By the terms of the
Treaty of Viterbo, his lands passed under the direct control of
Charles I, king of
Sicily. Charles appoints a
bailiff to rule the Latin principality. In response, Charles swears fealty to the new pope,
Nicholas III, on
May 24. He promises not to attack or invade the
Byzantine Empire because Nicholas has hopes to unify the
Orthodox Church with the
Catholic Church. •
August 5 –
Reconquista:
Siege of Algeciras – Castilian forces (some 30,000 men) led by King
Alfonso X ("the Wise") besiege
Algeciras (at this time under control of the
Marinids). A fleet of 24 ships and some 80 galleys is placed in the
Bay of Gibraltar to prevent the supply of the city from nearby
Gibraltar. The fleet is made up of most of the members of the
Order of Saint Mary of Spain, a military-
religious order which is concentrated in naval warfare. •
August 26 –
Battle on the Marchfeld: German-Hungarian forces (some 9,000 men) led by Kings
Rudolf I of Germany in alliance with
Ladislaus IV of Hungary ("the Cuman"), defeat and kill
Ottokar II, ruler of
Bohemia. The battle ends the power struggle between Rudolf and Ottokar over the fate of
Central Europe. Rudolf's
House of Habsburg will continue to rule
Austria and other captured territories until the end of
World War I in
1918. •
September 29 –
Reconquista: Aragonese forces led by King
Peter III take the Muslim stronghold of
Montesa, putting an end to two years of
Mudéjar rebellion. The defeated Muslims are expelled from the realm and go into exile.
England •
November 17 – King
Edward I ("Longshanks") raises the penalty for
coin clipping from banishment to execution. All
Jews are subjected to arrest and search of their homes on suspicion of coin clipping. Some 680 Jews are imprisoned in the
Tower of London, with more than 300 subsequently executed. At this time, the Jewish population is believed to have been some 3,000.
Levant • January – Charles I is crowned
King of Jerusalem, and is recognized by the kingdom's barons at
Acre. He surrenders the vicariate of
Tuscany to Nicholas III. His bailiff,
Roger of San Severino, appoints various Frenchmen from Charles' court as his chief officers.
Bohemond VII, count of
Tripoli (and nominal
Prince of Antioch), acknowledges Roger as lawful
bailiff.
Asia •
May 8 – The 7-year-old Emperor
Emperor Duanzong (or Zhao Shi) dies of illness. He is succeeded by his brother
Zhao Bing who becomes the last ruler of the
Song dynasty. Meanwhile, Mongol forces under the control of Mongol leader
Kublai Khan ("Great Khan") draw closer to the remnants of the Song imperial court. •
November 8 –
Trần Thánh Tông, second emperor of Vietnam's
Trần dynasty, takes up the post of Retired Emperor, but continues for 11 years to co-rule with his son
Trần Khâm.
By topic Art and Culture • The earliest known written copy of the
Avesta, a collection of ancient sacred
Persian Zoroastrian texts previously passed down orally, is produced.
Markets •
Giles of Lessines writes his
De usuris. He estimates that some credit contracts need not to be usurious, as "future things are not estimated to be of such value as those collected in the instant". The prevalence of this view in the usury debate allows for the development of the financial industry in
Roman Catholic Europe.
Religion •
September 8 –
Pere d'Urtx, Catalan bishop of
Urgell, becomes the first Episcopal
Co-Prince of
Andorra, when he signs the
paréage, establishing joint-sovereignty over the territory with
Roger-Bernard III, count of
Foix. == Births ==